[silverbirch]

most of us have shortcuts on the desk top.

I found that the occasionally the odd icon would disappear
and it was a devil to search for the software, let alone
remember the name

make a new folder in windows
call it shortcuts
click on it and move the folder onto the desktop

Now, everytime you install some new software on your computor
click on the desk top icon and move it into the folder

click on the icon again and create a new shortcut

now you have two shortcuts in the folder,
put the original one back on the desk top

If they ever go missing again, you know all the desk top
icons are there in the folder, nice and secure.

[JohnWill]

You can also just copy the shorcut from the start menu and paste it onto the desktop.

[RAW Bits]

There is a Windows Explorer shortcut I used to use, Ctrl-Shift-NumpadPlus, that adjusted column widths to fit all data. It has disappeared. What happened to it?

[jimr381]

The only issue I see with copying the shortcuts from the start menu is that some people move instead of copying them. I usually right-click on the icon go to "Send to">"Desktop Create Shortcut" which alleviates the accidental moving of shortcuts instead of copying them.

[JohnWill]

If I was suggesting "move", I'd have said to move them.